The South African Football Association (Safa) has left the door open for South Africa to host the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations despite the growing concerns over the deadly Ebola virus.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have again sought help from South Africa, with Morocco reportedly reconsidering hosting the biennial competition amid fears over the Ebola outbreak.
CAF officials sent a letter to Safa on October 12, requesting South Africa to consider hosting the competition in three months’ time. South Africa has bailed CAF out twice before, hosting the 1996 and 2013 Cup of Nations tournaments in place of Kenya and Libya respectively.
Safa president Danny Jordaan, who says CAF have sent the same request to six other countries, has not ruled out the possibility of South Africa hosting the competition but said the association could not make a decision without approval from the government.
Ghana, Egypt and Angola are three of the other countries CAF have apparently approached.
“You cannot host without agreement of government and we have not engaged them yet on this matter,” Jordaan said yesterday. “CAF have sent out invitation to us and other nations in case there is a refusal from Morocco to host the tournament, because CAF cannot postpone it. There is no clear position .... We will have to wait until November 3 to hear what they have to say.”
Hosting the competition, with the Ebola outbreak a consideration, would be costly and is not likely to benefit the country in any way.
Jordaan, however, is convinced South Africa would be able to curb the spread of Ebola.
“Our health department has taken measures. There is a world response now to dealing with Ebola. We will continue to engage with the health department on the matter. Ebola is serious .... Countries must take necessary measures to deal with this virus, whether it’s hosted by Ghana or Angola or whoever it is.
“There is an African Women’s Championship going on at the moment in Namibia. Ghana, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Zambia and other countries are there.
“On Wednesday, we had countries playing all around the continent in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Sudan flew to Nigeria. Congo flew to South Africa and so on. So it’s a fact that African teams fly every weekend to engage in sporting events, including football. So life is not frozen in Africa.”
The department of sport yesterday released a statement on the tournament, and it has been suggested that the government will not agree to South Africa hosting the event. “Our major concern of course remains the cost implications of such a tournament when South Africa is currently grappling with its own fiscal challenges,” the statement read.
Jordaan, meanwhile, said Safa would write a letter to Fifa’s ethics committee to find out why the probe into the alleged match-fixing in Bafana Bafana’s friendlies before the 2010 Fifa World Cup is taking so long. This would follow a letter Safa sent to Jerome Valcke, Fifa secretary general, on September 3 on the matter.
Door open on hosting of cup
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) have again sought help from South Africa, with Morocco reportedly reconsidering hosting the biennial competition amid fears over the Ebola outbreak.
CAF officials sent a letter to Safa on October 12, requesting South Africa to consider hosting the competition in three months’ time. South Africa has bailed CAF out twice before, hosting the 1996 and 2013 Cup of Nations tournaments in place of Kenya and Libya respectively.
Safa president Danny Jordaan, who says CAF have sent the same request to six other countries, has not ruled out the possibility of South Africa hosting the competition but said the association could not make a decision without approval from the government.
Ghana, Egypt and Angola are three of the other countries CAF have apparently approached.
“You cannot host without agreement of government and we have not engaged them yet on this matter,” Jordaan said yesterday. “CAF have sent out invitation to us and other nations in case there is a refusal from Morocco to host the tournament, because CAF cannot postpone it. There is no clear position .... We will have to wait until November 3 to hear what they have to say.”
Hosting the competition, with the Ebola outbreak a consideration, would be costly and is not likely to benefit the country in any way.
Jordaan, however, is convinced South Africa would be able to curb the spread of Ebola.
“Our health department has taken measures. There is a world response now to dealing with Ebola. We will continue to engage with the health department on the matter. Ebola is serious .... Countries must take necessary measures to deal with this virus, whether it’s hosted by Ghana or Angola or whoever it is.
“There is an African Women’s Championship going on at the moment in Namibia. Ghana, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Zambia and other countries are there.
“On Wednesday, we had countries playing all around the continent in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers. Sudan flew to Nigeria. Congo flew to South Africa and so on. So it’s a fact that African teams fly every weekend to engage in sporting events, including football. So life is not frozen in Africa.”
The department of sport yesterday released a statement on the tournament, and it has been suggested that the government will not agree to South Africa hosting the event. “Our major concern of course remains the cost implications of such a tournament when South Africa is currently grappling with its own fiscal challenges,” the statement read.
Jordaan, meanwhile, said Safa would write a letter to Fifa’s ethics committee to find out why the probe into the alleged match-fixing in Bafana Bafana’s friendlies before the 2010 Fifa World Cup is taking so long. This would follow a letter Safa sent to Jerome Valcke, Fifa secretary general, on September 3 on the matter.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos